1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of storage devices and in particular to the field of vertically stackable nested storage devices.
2) Background Art
In many applications it is useful to easily gain access to differing materials stored in differing vertically stacked storage compartments of a storage device. It is known in the prior art to provide vertically stacked storage compartments for storing materials wherein the storage compartments are not slidably movable. When storage compartments of this type are not slidably movable, one-handed separation of the compartments to permit access to the materials with the free hand is difficult. Such devices are taught by U.S. Pat. No. 3,719,272, issued to Bodine, on Mar. 6, 1973, U.S. Pat. No. 3,819,847, issued to Charles, on Jun. 25, 1974, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,025,212, issued to Block, on May 24, 1977. However, since these storage devices do not permit easy one-handed opening of compartments or removal of materials from within compartments, they do not provide the type convenient dispensing of the material which is required in many applications.
It is also known in the prior art to provide slidably openable stacked storage compartments adapted to permit more convenient dispensing of materials. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,826,333 issued to Rodemich, on Mar. 11, 1958, teaches a vertical frame and a series of combined closure and supporting members which slide on the frame for supporting and closing stacked removable containers. In the storage system of Rodemich a combined closure and supporting member between stacked containers may be grasped and slidably moved upward to permit access to a removable container beneath it.
However, the frame and the closure elements of Rodemich protrude outwardly beyond the edges of the containers, thereby wasting horizontal space wherein no materials may be stored. Additionally, because the supporting members slide along three horizontally spaced apart tie rods, care must be taken when sliding one of the members upward to keep the member level in order to prevent sticking and jamming of the member against the rods. It is therefore difficult to gain access to the contents of the containers using only one hand since two hands are required to reliably keep the combined closure and supporting member level. Additionally, when removing the contents from the containers it is possible to inadvertently remove and spill a removable container because the containers are not secured to the frame in the storage system taught by Rodemich.
U.S. Pat. No. 911,785, issued to Vasconcelles, on Feb. 9, 1909, also teaches vertically stacked containers. The apparatus of Vasconcelles is also provided with external rods forming a bale for stacking the containers. However, the containers are not adapted to permit easy one-handed access to materials inside the containers since there is provided no means for gripping a container to lift it above the container disposed below it. Furthermore, Vasconcelles teaches a lid on each container wherein the lid prevents easy one-handed access to a container. In order to hold the containers within the stacking bale and to adapt the containers to be slidable along the rods of the bale, both the containers and the lids are provided with notches for receiving the rods. The notches prevent the containers from rotating with respect to each other to permit easy access to materials on all sides of the interior of each container.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,000,841, issued to Bachli, on Jan. 4, 1977, teaches stacked trays which may serve as compartments for storing material. However, the stacked trays of Bachli cannot be easily separated for gaining access to materials inside the trays with one hand because they slide along two posts. The trays are thus subject to sticking and jamming as they slide along the posts. Therefore, two hands are required to reliably separate the trays taught by Bachli. Additionally, the posts of Bachli are exterior to the storage space thereby causing wasted space in the vicinity of the storage compartments.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide vertically stacked storage compartments which may be easily separated to permit one-handed removal of materials from inside the compartments.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a storage device having vertically stacked storage compartments which are not removable from the device in order to prevent the compartments from falling out of the device during use.